Read Romans 4:1-12

We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! - Romans 4:9b-10 (NIV)

Before he did anything for God, Abraham believed God’s promises, and God counted that faith as righteousness for Abraham. And so it is for us—only by believing God, by trusting in who God is, and in what He does for us, in us, and through us, will we be used as God used Abraham—to bless the whole world.